Textile fabrics are widely utilized in a variety of applications, including such things as apparel, home furnishings, automobiles, etc. In many applications, it is desired to enhance fabric performance through a treatment process, such as by chemically treating the fabric, mechanically treating it, or forming it into a composite. Chemical treatments perform well in many instances. However, the treatments typically result in fabrics where both surfaces have approximately the same performance characteristics. For example, a soil release finish applied to an apparel-weight fabric typically provides soil release capability to both fabric surfaces.
In some instances, it may be desirable to have a fabric where each of the fabric surfaces performs in a different manner. Conventional methods of achieving such a structure are by forming a layered type fabric or composite, or by applying a chemical treatment or coating to one side of a fabric, which is typically a relatively thick coating.
For example, European patent 0546580B1 describes a printing process for treating one side only of a hydrophobic nonwoven fabric with a wetting agent to produce a two-sided fabric with hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties. In this material, the hydrophobicity is only that which the nonwoven substrate inherently possesses, and is therefore only limitedly hydrophobic. In addition the hydrophilic properties exhibit rather limited durability to laundering because the wetting agent is removed.